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sheephead

American  
[sheep-hed] / ˈʃipˌhɛd /

noun

  • sheephead,
    plural
  • sheepheads
    plural
  1. a large California food fish, Semicossyphus pulcher, of the wrasse family.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of sheephead

First recorded in 1535–45; so called from the resemblance of its teeth to those of a sheep


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

On California’s North Coast, where other urchin nemeses — like otters, spiny lobsters and sheephead — are lacking, 96% of the region’s kelp forests vanished in the decade following the sea star collapse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025

Fish vary by season but can include yellowtail, white sea bass, calico bass, barracuda, sheephead and halibut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2015

He got out the rod and caught mangrove snappers from under the banks and sheephead from their hiding places among sunken logs and snags.

From Dick in the Everglades by A. W. Dimock

There one may also capture blue-fish, white-fish, sheepheads and pompanos; all delicious, the pompanos being the most highly-prized and esteemed, and most expensive, of America's many fine table fishes.

From Ranching, Sport and Travel by Thomas Carson

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